Ever heard of a leash?!

[toad]

As I have a 2 hour break between shifts today, I came home to let Toad out and decided to take him for a walk.

Toad is dog aggressive, and I have plans to take him to a trainer and work with him to make it easier to take him everywhere with me, without worrying about who else might be there...

Well, as I was walking down my own street, the neighbor's dog came flying out of the bushes and went straight for Toad She is a pit bull, about the same size as him, and I know that pits are dog aggressive, so I'm not holding that against her - she's just a dog and it's not her fault.

But I've worked with plenty of pits at the pound, and I know that Toad wouldn't stand a chance against one in a real fight, so I just about had a heart attack and was reduced to standing there and screaming like a maniac. Had I had more time to think about it, I probably would have been better off charging her, instead of backing away, but I never got that far.

Toad is fine, and the owner recaptured her dog (or rather, screamed at her kids to do it), but I'm just annoyed - if you KNOW your dog doesn't like other animals, WHY would you leave her loose?! How hard is it to keep your freaking dog on a leash? I keep my dog on a leash all the time.

How the heck am I supposed to convince my already nervous and aggressive dog that he can trust me to protect him when we can't walk down our own road without getting attacked?

[ChoclateBetta]

Good care and wow that is terrible but not all pit bulls are aggressive.

[toad]

Originally Posted by ChoclateBetta

Good care and wow that is terrible but not all pit bulls are aggressive.

Dog aggression is a tendency in that particular breed, as they were bred for dog fighting for so long. It doesn't make them bad dogs, and not all of them are aggressive toward other dogs, but if you have one that IS aggressive, you shouldn't leave it loose to run into the road after people and their pets - she didn't hurt Toad, but she could have easily been run over.

For the record, I think pits are great dogs, and most of my favorite shelter dogs are pitties.

[ChoclateBetta]

Bettas were bred for fighting and pet bettas are descended from that stock.

[LittleBettaFish]

Our 12 month old can be a bit dog aggressive, so I know where you are coming from. It has been a very long process to get her to stop growling/lunging/barking at every dog we see, and I was very proud today when we took her to the vet and she actually wanted to play with the two dogs in there.

It annoys me to no end when people with completely out of control dogs let their dogs off leash in areas that are on lead only. They then proceed to let their dog approach yours, generally with far-off cries of 'don't worry he's friendly!'

When I was first getting our girl over her dog issues, we had some person at the end of the street let their little black fluffy jump out of the bushes and have a go at my dog for about five minutes. They had absolutely no control over that dog and had no business letting it be off leash.

How have you been managing his dog aggression up until this point? It can depend on the dog as to how much damage an incident like this one does to their confidence and progress.

Hopefully it won't have had too much of an impact.

[ChoclateBetta]

Some people should not be allowed to own any kind of pets even plants.

[pittipuppylove]

I feel your pain on the leash issue - it's one thing if you're in the middle of nowhere (literal nowhere - like you own acres of land and are smack dab in the middle of it), and even then the dog should have a good recall. My feelings on that extend to people who use retractable leashes - yes, I believe they can be used to give a dog a bit of extra freedom while still having some control of the dog, but they aren't for every dog. I'll use one for my older rat terrier who knows when the leash is locked that she needs to stay at a heel, but there is no way I'd use one for my younger pit bulls or lab.

I hate it when people just assume that dogs are always friendly and want to make friends with each other. I went to Petsmart with my rat terrier, who is partially blind and will get snippy to other dogs that she can't see well, the other day and a couple wanted their puppy to "say hi" to my dog and gave me a seriously nasty look when I told them that she wasn't very dog friendly. They didn't even ask my permission for their dog to aproach mine - just set their dog down and tried to let them mingle.

Pit bulls are another issue - if you are going to have a APBT or other bully breed, don't have them off-leash. Even if the dog is super friendly to people and/or doesn't have dog aggression issues, a large, powerfully built dog running at you, regardless of breed, is a very scary thing! And if something does happen, the media/policicians will jump on it and reinforce the stereotype that pit bulls are bad and should be banned and therefore affect pit bull owners everywhere. While it is up to all dog owners to be responsible and set a good example, I believe that this is even more so for owners of bully breeds. I've practically grown up in a vet clinic since my mom's a vet, and I've gone to several "vicious dog" hearings for great dogs who wouldn't hurt a flea that happen to be pit bulls that could have easily been avoided if the owner had only had their dog leashed.

[ChoclateBetta]

I am more scared of chihuahuas than pit bulls.

[dramaqueen]

I had an incident with a Maltese that tried to attack a dog I was walking. The owner REFUSED to put her dog on a leash. Our county has a leash law as well as our homeowners ' association. She said he's never been on a leash and never would be. I complained to our board and they sent her a letter. She was furious about it.

[pittipuppylove]

And I'm sure the person'd be even more furious if the dog ran into the street into incoming traffic, or if the Maltese met another dog who wasn't dog-friendly. Sometimes I wonder if people don't realize that leash laws are as much for the safety of the animal as for the community.
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